69 DAYS, 33 MINERS, PRAYER AND A MAN NAMED LUIS

He had only been with the company 2 months yet the other miners honored him as a leader.  A trained topographer he drew a detailed map of the mine.  He rationed the light of the vehicles to separate night from day in the perpetual darkness and keep 32 men sane.  He designated sleeping, toilet and other areas.  He divided the men into teams and made sure they all had something to do every day, something to contribute.  He developed the rules and the discipline to keep panic, violence or cannabilism at bay.  He oversaw the rationing of food while they were entombed and the exit rotation as they were rescued.  His name? Luis.

Half a mile above on earth babies were born, birthdays came and went, mistresses appeared and adultry overshadowed matrimony during the 69 days.  Those issues were all quieted as the capsul reached the surface carrying the last miner. The interpreter's voice broke as Luis rode his carriage home.  A President and a First Lady shed tears as he approached.

12 countries helped, NASA of the US and a Pennsylvanian company volunteered the drill and the man power to engineer the shaft.  The President changed the rules as they were needed.  He sought and accepted expertise from other countries.  Whatever the engineers needed they were given, manpower, finances, the President did not shirk.  He was there to tirelessly greet each and every miner, each received the same smile, the same hug, the same escorted walk, none was treated less than the other.

International physicians assessed and made treatment recommendations from afar.   Vital signs would be monitored by a specifically designed belt when the men rode their capsule carriage to the surface.  From his mine tomb one young father watched the birth of his daughter "Esperanza" in a hospital miles away. The miners communicated with their families, they knew the world was watching and that the world cared.  Any one of those comes as close to a miracle as we are likely to see any time soon.  Prayer was front and center.

Yes the mine had been declared 'unsafe' but the cave in happened while these men were in the only safe zone.  Part of their daily ritual once entombed, involved prayer.  When Mario was rescued the first thing he did was drop to his knees in front of the world and thank God.  The President was seen praying.  Mario who was rescued later said there were 34 in the mine, the men and the Lord who never left them.   A blogger on Opensalon.com declared that the rescue was not a miracle because of the past dangers and mismanagement of the mine.   Danger and mismanagement present makes it even more of a miracle that they survived. A miracle often occurs when man makes mistakes and the Divine intervenes.  So I ask again, was it a miracle?  Nope, it was a collection of miracles.